First graduating “Cooking Outdoors with Dutch ovens” class
Over the past two Friday night I have been teaching the art of black pot cooking to a very eager group of people. The whole idea of this class came from me doing so many demo's that I started to wonder if there was a need for classes in my neck of the woods. It was a simple matter to put together a class syllabus and send it to the local community college for approval – quickly it was and quickly it happened.
Now I must confess that there was some doubt in me that no one would sign-up for this class and the class limit was twenty people. More than I thought I could handle and way more than I thought would sign-up. But I was proven wrong in time, all wrong in fact. As the date arrived for the class I had reached my limit of twenty – wow what a wonderful surprise!
Well, the day of the class arrived and I had three additional walk-ins! 23 people and they were are eager to cook! I went through all of the basics: History of Dutch ovens, types and sizes, what to buy, how to take care of them, tempurature control, baking, roasting, frying, equipment and more.
After me rambling on for over an hour and a half, it was time to cut them loose … 3 different beer breads, mixed berry pie with a crisp topping, peach cobbler, taco meatball ring and cinnamon rolls was on the menu. And what a rush to the pots there was, 23 three brand new Dutch oven cooks were mixing everything up and getting it together. Grins, smiles and laughter where in excess … off to the cooking tables, light the coals and start cooking … best not get in their way!
With an incredible harvest moon rising over us they cooked thier goodies outside with charcoal and could barely control themselves – they all wanted to peak in those pots to see what was happening. Questions followed by laughter and great camaraderie made this a top notch experience for everyone. The pride of cooking their first recipes in a Dutch oven was contagious! The food was gone in minutes ……
Graduation came the next week, if you could call it that. More of a “complete meal” was on the class program for tonight. After a quick review of the previous week everyone was assigned a dish to make – the challenge was greater this time as they were going to learn what you can really do in a Dutch oven tonight!
Parmesan herbed stuffed chicken breast, Apple stuffed pork loins, baked asparagus, baked spinach and rice, baked green beans, black berry cobbler and a Mississippi mud cake were on the menu. Really, they were all pros now and it was time to push thier limits.
I can't tell you how proud I was to watch them tackle those dishes, prep the coals, cook them and present them to each other! And they even cleaned everything up after all, and I mean all of the food was devoured! The only time in two days that they were silent … they were just too busy eating and enjoying everything they just cooked.
What fun, what great friends I have made! This was the first class that I taught at the community college and because of all of my students it will be one of my fondest memories! I look forward to cooking with each and everyone of them again. I hope they all join CCDOA chapter, cook in their black pots and teach a hundred of their friends.
Thank you!
Gary
